He Is My Hero
by PerfectDreamer
Summary: Ashley finds herself lost in hopelessness. Leon remembers Raccoon City's tragedy and how he couldn't do anything about it. He won't let this happen again. This time it will be different, he will be the hero not the victim.


**Disclaimer: I don't own Resident Evil 4. This belongs to Capcom.**

* * *

><p>Leon shoots his handgun rapidly, landing 3 bullets accurately on the head of the Ganado who was carrying Ashley away.<br>The Ganado released the hostage from his grip then fell and quickly dissolved into an unknown disgusting liquid. Ashley now released, ends up on the ground with her face down, she is exhausted, and doesn't seem like she wants to get up, or even have the energy to. She has been dragged away four times already by the Ganados, fortunately Leon had killed each and everyone of them before they could escape with her.

While Ashley still lied on the ground, not moving, Leon killed the rest of the possessed villagers.  
>Landing every single shot perfectly in their heads, he had the time to target them with such accuracy since they weren't close to either him or the subject of his mission.<p>

After making sure that every single possessed body disintegrated,  
>he scanned the area to see if there was any more danger but luckily there seemed to be none for the time being so he put his gun back into the holster and went to were Ashley was currently lying.<p>

"Ashley." Leon spoke in his usual formal manner while he knelt next to her. "It's safe now, you can get up."

She didn't answer.

"Ashley?" He got closer to her, examining her body to see if she had any injury but he found nothing.  
>"Hey we need to get going, it's dangerous to stay here outside." His curiosity began to form, along with slight worry.<p>

Without looking at him she finally spoke. "I can't." Her words came out as a whisper, but due to how close Leon was, he heard her perfectly.

Leon's worry started increasing, thinking maybe she had been hurt. After all she had fallen roughly four times from the grasp of those nasty possessed villagers

"What do you mean? Are you hurt? " He said with a hint of concern in his voice as he tried to get her to face him.  
>He usually never let this type of emotions affect his voice tone, not when he was being professional, much less in such a dangerous mission. He needed to be professional, to let his training take over, not his emotions. He couldn't show much emotions since it would appear as a weakness, and he couldn't let any mistakes occur, he had to accomplish this mission flawlessly.<p>

"No, I'm fine." She said still not raising her tone of voice. "I just don't see the point." Still not looking at him.

Before Leon could talk she continued. "I don't want to fight anymore Leon... and I don't want to see you fight for me anymore. I want to stop this, suffering, once and for all." This time she raised her tone by a bit to make sure he heard her perfectly.

"We will stop this. Everything will be back to normal soon, and you'll return home to your parents and back to your life." He said in a reassuring voice, thinking he hadn't really grasped what she meant.

"When I said stop, I meant end this. I don't want to be a burden to you anymore..." Ashley continued in her line of thought not caring about what Leon was saying, since she thought his words were nothing but beautiful lies. Only used to keep her as calm as possible so she could follow the instructions almost blindly, she was only another part of his mission.

"Ashley you aren't a burden to me. You are the subject of my mission." Leon said as professionally as he could, when he heard a thunder he looked up and noticed how the sky was getting darker than usual, black clouds covered the whole view. "We have to hurry before-."

Ashley interrupted Leon, she always knew she was only Leon's mission objective, which made her feel bad for no logical reason.  
>Yet hearing him say that bluntly and in such a matter of fact way, made it seem like an insult, to her at least.<p>

"This pain growing steadily inside me, its consuming me... I know I won't make it out alive..."

The blonde said with an insecure voice, not thinking clearly, not taking into account anything Leon just said.  
>She was too distracted to listen to any logic or reasoning. She felt repulsive knowing there was something unknown crawling inside her, making its way to take control of her body and mind; with this she developed some kind of paranoia, thinking she could change drastically the way she thought and acted at any time, without her ever noticing. Without there being anything possible to do about it, she thought of herself as a lost cause.<p>

Ashley couldn't keep her sight off the ground.  
>Tears were now forming in her hazel eyes, she tried her best to stop them, using the slight strength she had left, her last act of pride.<p>

Leon was surprised by her negative words, yet it all seemed too familiar to him.

He could feel those horrid memories of abundant hopelessness resurface back from his subconscious.  
>This memories had haunted him for years after that incident, the images wouldn't let him sleep, they seemed to be trying to eliminate his desire to survive after escaping from Raccoon City by reviving those feelings in his nightmares.<p>

Reminding himself that he was on a mission, he blocked those dreadful thoughts and anything else that might bring his will down.  
>He couldn't let his will fall apart, he has to save Ashley, he has to protect her and be strong enough so she can rely on him. He has to show her hope could be found even in this kind of horrendous place, he would be the light that will guide her through this darkness, something he wished he had back then. Even if he didn't had this kind of help in the past, he didn't feel any kind of envy, instead he felt he could change the outcome this time; unlike Raccoon City's tragical fate. This time he could be the hero, not the victim.<p>

Resolved he looked at Ashley with unbreakable courage showing in his eyes, knowing he has to convince her to believe in herself.  
>He spoke in a friendly and reassuring voice while he grabbed her arms softly trying to lift her; ignoring the strict instructions he had when dealing with the subject<p>

"Look I know you aren't used to this, in fact no one normal would be used to this, but if you really appreciate the life you had, if you value your loved ones, then you have to fight to stay alive. I promise I will protect you from anything and get us both out of here, no matter how difficult it gets. I won't surrender. Just please, don't give up. Fight for your life. It ultimately all depends on you."

Leon had Ashley's complete attention, his soft warm touch, the look in his eyes, and the words he spoke; they made her feel better already.  
>His voice projected so much honesty, something she hadn't experienced since she was kidnapped and brought to this God forsaken place, she could actually believe him. She found courage in him, she found the hope she thought was lost. Ashley was now sure that she would get out alive, that she would be saved.<p>

Ashley finally started getting up from the ground with Leon's help.  
>She looked directly into Leon's eyes, her eyes now had a shine of determination in them. She spoke with a sudden dramatic change in her previous insecure voice<p>

"I won't die here. I won't give up Leon." She tightly hugged Leon who was still holding her arms. He returned the embrace with less strength than her but it didn't last much.

When he backed off, he looked at Ashley with a hint of pride in his eyes after hearing her words filled with such determination; knowing she meant what she said he gave a small sincere smile to her.

"Good. Now let's go find shelter before it starts raining." He said.

Ashley hadn't noticed the weather change or how strong the wind was blowing. It seemed to grew colder by the second.

Leon grabbed Ashley's hand tightly and started guiding her through the village looking for a place to stay for the rest of the night.  
>Ashley couldn't help but blush a little at his prolonged willing contact, even though Leon's hand was covered by his black leather glove.<p>

They we were incredibly lucky when Leon spotted a small house somewhat hidden from the rest of the other gray, moderately shattered buildings.  
>Of course the house wasn't in a good condition, but it was the less decayed one they could find that wasn't too obvious in sight, it was probably the best bet for a safe place where they could hide for the rest of the night.<p>

Few cold drops started falling with increasing speed a few seconds before they could get into the house.  
>Leon kicked the door open entering first, his protective instincts kicking in, he held his handgun ready to make sure there was nothing hiding inside or waiting to make an attack. After he made sure the place was free of Ganados or any other danger, he closed the door and blocked it by putting a chair leaned under the doorknob and then blocking the only window the house has with an old dusty bookshelf.<p>

* * *

><p><em><strong>Ashley's POV<strong>_

_I walked to the bed located on the far back corner, it had a large dark stain, probably blood but it seemed as if it was dry.  
>I took the sheet off the bed, even though the stain trespassed to the mattress. Then I realized I didn't' really cared anymore if I got even more dirty, I was already a mess, but how could I not be. Besides I was too tired to actually focus on anything else than on resting, so I laid on the bulky bed and tried to relax, close my eyes and forget about everything traumatic that had recently happened. <em>

_Forget about the fact that I was kidnapped by an unknown psycho, __forget about the inhumane religious rituals they held here, forget about those disgusting monsters and their cold tough grip, forget about the bloodshed, the gun shots, the thing that is growing inside me, or the lives that have been taken away... Or how Leon faces death constantly..._

_I know that if he wasn't here I wouldn't be either.  
><em>_I would probably be still locked up in that church, just waiting for this thing to take control of me. Somehow I believe that if anyone else had come to rescue me, they wouldn't have make it. I think everyone else would have had given up or end up dead. I doubt that any normal person, no matter how trained they are, would be able to face this horror and still have a sane mind able to think logical and act with incredible strength such as Leon._

_I really thank him for putting up with me all this time.  
><em>_I know I don't make it any easier for him; in fact I worsen things. I can't shoot a gun, or even climb down ladders by myself. Leon is really kind for never blaming anything on me, he never nags me or yells at me even when I think I deserve it. He is really patient with my attitude, I feel like if he actually understands me, or maybe it's just part of his advanced training. Although I've had many other people taking care of me that don't have that kind of patience or niceness. Now in this situation, I've had the worse attitude I could have, sometimes I can't even handle myself, yet he still treats me with respect and care._

_I'm glad that he is by my side, I really appreciate his company and everything he has done; __but I hate how he puts his life at risk just to protect me.  
>I want to let Leon be free, free to return to his home and continue his life normally. Even though after being through this I hardly think that would be easy. Still I want to stop doing any harm to him, stop causing any more trouble. I told him I wouldn't give up, and I'm not planning to go back on my word, not after how he looked at me, how it seemed as he truly believed in me. So I will try and help him with everything I can. I want him to feel that he can count on me as I count on him. Maybe, just maybe he would even look at me differently, not just as a subject to his almost suicidal mission.<em>

_**End of POV**_

* * *

><p>Meanwhile Leon was checking if the small restroom worked, it didn't looked nearly as filthy at the others he has seen on previous houses.<br>To his delight, it did work, same with the shower, even though the water was ice cold which deemed it non useful to him.

He got out of the bathroom and went to the humble kitchen, it had some dust on but still this also wasn't as filthy as previous ones.  
>It too had pretty much all the typical kitchen utensils. Leon gave it a try to turn on the fire in the stove, which miraculously worked. Feeling lucky about the recent events he checked the refrigerator to see if there was anything eatable and found nothing. Then he remembered he had found a couple of eggs back in the farm. He did the best he could in cooking them with nothing else but salt that he had conveniently found in a large sack, next to a sack of flour.<p>

After the scrambled eggs were fully cooked, he served it into two plates he recently washed with cold water along with forks and took them to were Ashley currently was. He noticed she was lying on the bed facing towards the wall, he thought she was asleep but he had to wake her up to make sure she ate something.

"Hey Ash?" He whispered.

Ashley was distracted from her train of thought by Leon's voice, she turned around to look at him.

"Hey sorry if I woke you up, but you have to eat something." Leon said offering a plate with a fork to her.

Ashley looked at the plate still not speaking. Her face unreadable.

"Look I know this isn't a meal you are used to eating, and that I'm certainly no chef, but given our situation I think you could ignore how unappealing this looks and just eat it without throwing up." Leon said with a hint of humor in his voice.

Ashley changed her position to sit on the edge of the bed and took the plate from Leon's hand.

"Thanks Leon, I really am starving, and don't worry this doesn't look that bad at all." Ashley said gratefully before she started eating.  
>She tried not to eat as fast as her hunger demanded her to and to actually use the fork, her manners were almost entirely forgotten ever since she got kidnapped.<p>

Leon sat on the bed next to her and did the same thing, he ate slowly as if waiting for the awful taste to arrive, yet he didn't really notice any bad flavor, it might have not tasted good but at least it wasn't bad either, and he knew he couldn't be picky about what he ate this time.

After they both finished, Leon took both plates and forks and placed them back on the kitchen. Then he went back to where Ashley was.

"Well, that wasn't that bad." He said jokingly looking at her while standing next to the bed.

"Nope, not bad at all. I actually kinda enjoyed it." Ashley said giving him a small smile.

"It's nice to see you smile, you should do it more often." Leon said without really noticing what he had just said. "I mean, it's nice that you liked how I cook with limited resources." He said hoping she hadn't heard him before.

Ashley was taken by surprise by Leon's sudden compliment, he rarely spoke to her like this, expressing even a light emotion.  
>Since she didn't want to waste this rare opportunity she tried to act cool and natural around Leon. Forgetting for this moment how difficult their situation was at the time being.<p>

"Well you could see it more often if you cooked for me." She said playfully. Trying hard not to smile or giggle.

Leon thought he could put his guard down for a moment now that they were calm and safe, so he tried to chill and answered back.

"I am here to kick the bad guy's ass, not to cook and do the cleaning. You should actually be in charge of that." He said mockingly, exposing his fake sexist ego to make Ashley get mad.

"Oh sorry mister. I forgot about my principal duties as a female." She said sarcastically, knowing too well what he was planning to do.

She actually enjoyed the playful conversation she was having right now with Leon.  
>This was so rare to her, since he didn't seem like the talkative type, he seemed more like the conservative quiet yet cool guy; but him showing her this other side of his personality meant he trusted her, at least more than before.<p>

Which made Ashley find some hope for her unlikely fantasy to actually come true.  
>Ever since she met Leon she had felt slightly attracted to him, maybe it was because he was the only normal male she had seen in a while or the fact he was her rescuer or just his good looks; yet she felt her attraction grow with each moment she was by his side. She just didn't know what were her true feelings towards him and she didn't want to think about it too much, the state she was in wouldn't handle anymore confusion or interior struggle.<p>

After minutes of non sense but somehow interesting talking, Ashley was feeling drowsy, she had increasing trouble keeping her eyes open.

With a small yawn she said. "Leon, I think we should go to sleep now."

He nodded knowing she was right, after all they had been through so much in just one day, she had recently been saved too so she probably hadn't rested much when she was held captive.

"Yeah, you get some sleep." He said. Then he got off her bed and placed a chair next to it, there he sat and held out his handgun making sure it was fully reloaded and ready for use in case anything unexpected happened.

Ashley switched from her sitting position and fully laid her body on the bed, she felt much better now after eating something, having a conversation with Leon, and not worrying about having to run away at least for the moment.

Few minutes passed, Leon was still sitting on the chair keeping guard, he had checked all his weapons to make sure they were all ready for use.  
>He looked towards Ashley, who was very close to him, she had been silent for a while so she was sure sleeping. He saw more closely to notice her chest raising and falling slightly with each breath showing she was peaceful for once.<p>

"She looks so peaceful, so innocent when she is sleeping." Leon whispered to no one but himself to hear. "I wish her innocence wouldn't have to fade away after this."  
>He continued, thinking about his past experiences and how he had lost all his naive nature back then in Raccoon City, what was left of his innocence was vanished with the horrendous sights of undead corpses eating anything alive.<p>

He looked away from Ashley to nowhere in special when he remembered Sherry, the young girl he and Claire saved from the RPD Station.  
>She too was an innocent that was in the wrong place at the wrong time, she shouldn't have gone through that nightmare, her mind was too fragile to have witnessed such crimes against nature. This would forever haunt her, she would never be a normal child again. That was so unfair for her, she lost everything she had, and there was nothing either Leon or Claire could do about it.<p>

_'I won't let this happen again.'_ He thought determined to make sure he doesn't commit any mistake in his current mission. '_I can't let her lose her mind. I can't let her lose herself. I won't lose her.'_

He then looked back at Ashley with concern in his eyes, feeling bad about her being dragged out of her life and ending in this hell that reminded him of his own version of hell, even if this wasn't in anyway tied to Umbrella or any of his past, he still felt guilty, yet he wasn't sure why he felt that way.

'_She didn't deserve any of this...' _He thought while instinctively his hand tenderly removed Ashley's gold strands of hair from her face, he liked how her hair felt in his hand, and just the touch of her skin. He must have been already really tired too since Leon didn't act like this when he was on a mission, or anytime at all with any girl he just met.

"Leon?..." Ashley spoke, her voice was barely heard by Leon.  
>He removed his hand losing contact with her skin and saw that her eyes were still closed, so he thought she might have been dreaming.<p>

"Leon, you need to rest too." She said now with a higher tone in her voice, yet it still seemed more like a whisper.

Knowing now that she was awake, at least partially, he responded in a voice almost equally low.

"Don't worry about me Ashley, go back to sleep." It was strange for him, for someone to be considerate towards him, his well being was rarely if ever considered when being on a mission, it was always supposed that he could take care of himself with the advanced training he had been through.

Ashley now opened her eyes slowly and focused her sight on Leon.

"Please, rest for a bit at least, you've already done so much."

Leon noticed how Ashley had an almost pleading tone in her voice, this made him feel uneasy, and made it difficult for him to deny, yet he tried his best.

"I have to take care of your safety. I can't let my-"

"Leon, you have to take care of your safety as well. If something happened to you, I... I wouldn't know what I would do..." Ashley said with sadness in her low tone of voice. Afraid to think about what would happen if she lost him, or if he got fatally wounded.

Knowing Ashley wouldn't drop it, besides being too tired to argue with her, he agreed to her petition, the storm wasn't getting any calmer and it would be unlikely for the Ganado to strike at a time like this.

"I guess you're right."

Seeing that he agreed with her, she felt relieved, she wanted him to rest as much as he could because she knew it wasn't fair for her to rest and him to do all the work.

"Good, here I'll move closer to the wall so you have more space." She said cheerfully while moving to give him space.

Then she felt a little embarrassed since she basically asked him to sleep with her, or most likely by her side.  
>Of course she didn't have any other intention than to just let him rest for a change.<p>

Leon looked at the space on the bed Ashley offered him, right beside her.

The bed wasn't individual but it wasn't large enough for them to fit both without staying at least more than 1 feet away from each other.  
>He wasn't sure if he should accept sleeping in the same bed as her, even if they wouldn't do anything but sleep, it just seemed like a bad decision, yet there was no other thing he could sleep on.<p>

"I don't know if I should, you know, uh...sleep with you." He said awkwardly, feeling a little embarrassed too, something he hadn't felt for a while.

"Wait, what. No, you're not going to sleep with me...just by my side. It's different you know." Ashley said her embarrassment growing, her cheeks starting to blush slightly. Fortunately for her the room was almost entirely dark, the only source of light was the lit up oil lamp Leon had found.

"Uh, well, I guess so. But I think I could sleep on this chair."

"No Leon, I want you to rest. You won't be able to rest there." Ashley said, her embarrassment disappearing being replaced with concern. "Look if you want we'll take turns sleeping for the rest of the night, I'll stay on guard first since I already rested a bit."

Leon couldn't help but smile at Ashley and how concerned she was for him.  
>He felt now even lighter when he was with her, he felt he could trust her. He did appreciate how much she cared for his health so he just gave in to her first option and thought it wouldn't be so bad, after all they were both tired and needing rest.<p>

'_Besides it's not like she would tell her dad.'_ He thought.

"No thanks sweetheart. I think we could both sleep on the bed, we both need to fill our energy anyway." Leon said while he lay slowly next to Ashley on the bed.

Ashley blushed again, surprised that he actually did agree to her first suggestion.  
>She tried to not get different kinds of thoughts about this, and keep reminding herself he did it because he was exhausted too and in need to replenish energy.<p>

She then smiled at him and turned around from his face so that he wouldn't feel any more awkward.  
>Although she felt comfortable, having him by her side this close, it made her feel a security she hadn't felt in a long time. After a few seconds she closed her eyes and rapidly fell asleep.<p>

Leon noticed that Ashley had finally fell asleep again.  
>He felt relieved that she didn't have trouble sleeping, this was a sign that she wasn't in a bad condition. After realizing how close she was to him, he felt strange since he wasn't used to sleeping with someone else, yet somehow it didn't feel bad in any way. It wasn't habitual for him to feel this kind of comfort with anyone anymore, with the job he was forced to take he found it challenging to build bonds with others. Even trusting another person outside of his job appeared delicate to him.<p>

He had to admit that this moment of closeness scared him, because he thought that maybe he was growing closer to Ashley and that was not acceptable.  
>After all she isn't just another woman, she is the subject of one of his most important missions ever since he became a government agent, agents are strictly warned to never get attached to their subjects since it could affect their logical reasoning and the appliance of their training. Never involve personal emotions with missions. Another problem with him getting close to her is that she is the President's daughter, and rescuing her was his prior and only responsibility.<p>

He wasn't even allowed to make contact with her unless it was necessary for the mission to be successful.  
>Although maybe in this mission he hadn't actually followed the rules exactly as they were.<p>

He remembered how he liked Ashley's picture when he examined it before he arrived at his destination point. He thought she looked cute.  
>Then how when he saw her for the first time he thought she was really pretty, even more so than in the picture he had with him. After being by her side for quite some time he learned to admire her innocence and attitude, she hadn't broke down into cowardice or lost that spark of innocence she held in her eyes, not even when she had seen tremendous amounts of gore and violence.<p>

Leon didn't realized he hasn't took his sight off Ashley's sleeping form, he was relaxed by her being in his sight, knowing she was safe while in his presence.  
>His protective instincts were growing towards her, he kept thinking it was because of the mission itself, but he knew deep inside that even if she was safe and back home, he would still feel protective of her. Good thing is he was also employed as her bodyguard before he had to come to rescue her.<p>

_'I can't let myself be this weak, I have to handle my emotions. I don't want to make a stupid mistake...'_

Leon thought before he finally closed his eyes tiredly and slowly drifted into a calm slumber.

The next morning Ashley woke up, she felt slight weight on her waist, then she found out it was Leon's arm.  
>Ashley blushed and looked at him, he was still sleeping. She smiled warmly while looking at Leon's still sleeping face, she could feel strong emotions building up inside her providing soothing warmth. She got closer to Leon and kissed him with sweetness on his exposed right cheek. Then she lied down again this time closer and facing him, then she closed her eyes. She felt Leon hug her slightly with his right hand like he had before, although it probably was out of instinct, she felt happy in his hold.<p>

'_I could get used to seeing him every time I wake up_..._in fact that would be wonderful_.' Ashley thought before she went into a blissful sleep.

* * *

><p><strong>So yeah I'm back with another story, this time a Resident Evil story, unexpected I know. It's just that I loved Resident Evil 4 and Leon's and Ashley relationship.<strong>

** Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. I know I don't write very well, I haven't practiced my writing skills in a long time, so yeah. If you want to criticize then do so, but don't criticize the couple. If you don't like this couple then why read about them?**

**Also this is a One Shot. I might continue this if people ask for it, so review if you want to read more, though I doubt it. :P  
>And if you like this couple review too, and if you dislike Ada, and if you weren't satisfied with the ending of the video game.<br>Just REVIEW IT! Pretty please? :3 **


End file.
